11/21/16

My first epic week in Ecuador!

So I don’t have a ton of time but I will say as much as I can! first off HOLY CRAP haha I am in Ecuador!! it’s amazing though I really love it! I have and amazing trainer his name is Elder Salazar and he is from Ecuador! he is such a hard worker and I am blessed to have such a great trainer! 

I am in the area of Eden its right in Guayaquil! it is tiny but there is sooo much work to do here we are constantly teaching and talking to people it’s great! I am so blessed to be out here on a mission I love it! so the craziest thing that happened this week is some dude ran up to us and started asking for like clothes and stuff it was sketchy haha so we gave him and mango and left! hahahahaha we have 3 progressive investigators! they are really cool people and I am so excited to talk with them about the gospel! 

I know this is exactly where the lord wants me and I love it!! haha the food is great and I love the people here!!! thank you for all of your support! I love you guys!!!

"have I done any good"

Elder Bigelow!!!

Welcome to Ecuador

11/16/16

MADE IT!!

Hey I am alive and my first area is in Guayaquil it is called Eden! My companion’s name is Elder Salazar, I first just want to say this place is nuts! Like nothing here is like America! Haha but I love it, honestly it’s amazing! I just can’t really understand anything but who cares!!! haha today we went to eat at a member’s house and she gave us a ton of food! and I had to give the spiritual thought hahaha it was amazing! the buses here are probably the craziest thing ever I do not like them hahaha but anyways I can’t say much cause I have to go but I love you guys everything is great!! I love this work!!!!! 

TKOGON

Kade and Cade!! his teacher

Hair Cut!!

Saying goodbye!!

Teachers!!

11/13/16

I'M READY

Wow, this MTC experience has just flown by its super crazy!! I absolutely love this place and it’s honestly hard to leave but I am sooooooo ready for this! I honestly have not been able to sit still all day and my stomach has been like crazy in all my meetings today! haha but I am so ready! It was so hard saying goodbye to everyone in my zone though!! Like I love them all soo much! There were definitely tears shed!!!! One of the hardest things was saying goodbye to my teachers! They are amazing and I really am super grateful for everything they have done for me! I am totally gonna come visit them when I get back they rock!!!!

It’s gonna be rough saying goodbye to my comp Elder Manua.... I love him! We have become so dang close!!! But I will see him after the mission!!!

soo my teacher told me something this week Hermano Parker, he said that I should come at everything with a happy attitude like when you get a door slammed in your face or when someone calls you a name just get right back up and keep going with the best attitude porque that is super important and the Lord with bless us!!!

IM READY!!!!!

Hadn't got his flight plans so he was a little sad :(

Alaska is his home!!

11/9/16

Pues..... this is crazy!! IT seems like last week was when I got here!!! Honestly I am going to miss this place a lot!! It has been just an amazing experience! So first off some more news my companion Elder Harris went home which was sad I really liked him but he had some struggles he needed to take care of before coming back out.

SOOOOO I got my flight plans this week!!!! I leave Monday at 2:30 in the morning!!! haha my first flight is to Dallas where I have like a 3 hour layover!! haha and then to Miami! and then finally to Guayaquil!!!! I am really excited but super nervous at the same time! I am just so ready to share the gospel! last night we had a devotional by Joy D Jones the primary general president and she said "Smile, you have the greatest message in the universe and it’s free" that made me really happy and excited to bring people to Christ!!!!

Soo I have a really cool experience I want to share with you guys! Yesterday we did this thing called a skype member TRC! it’s where we go skype a random member and share like a spiritual message so we can get used to talking to native people! We got this guy named Joe! he is from Mexico and he is a beast!! But me and Elder Manua did a lesson about being a member missionary! And in the middle of it we asked him why would he want to share the gospel with people around him and he bore such a powerful testimony on how much joy the gospel has brought him and why wouldn’t he want to share it!! and then he turned to me and said Elder Bigelow (in Spanish of course) I know you are struggling with the language but I want you to know that you will get it down! he said that the spirit will teach me everything even not spiritual things and all that I had to do is keep praying and being like 100 percent obedient and then Spanish will come fast for me! I felt the spirit so strong and so I bore my testimony and when I spoke I wasn’t like fluent or nothing but I could say exactly what I wanted and I didn’t really stumble around it was amazing haha I almost bawled my eyes out hahahaha but that was just so spiritual I loved it!!!!

Other things that happened this week is Jenny Oaks Baker came and did a performance for us on Sunday night and it was incredible!!! haha I got a sweet looking haircut and I am still the champion at 4 square!! last gym time I was king for like 30 minutes it was legit!! hahaha

I just want to end with my testimony that I know that Jesus Christ lives and that he died for me!! I know that Gods plan for us is perfect and amazing and that the Atonement is real!! if there is one thing I could say to all of you and that I have learned pretty well here is to not care what anyone else thinks about you but the Lord!!! Because people may think you are lame for keeping rules or other things but who cares!! because when you know the Lord is happy then you should be happy with yourself!! and just use the atonement often it should be your best friend!!!! I love all you guys!! and I can’t wait for Ecuador!! next time I email you I will be it the promised land!!!! :)

The Kingdom of God or Nothing!!!

TKOGON

Elder Bigelow... the man, the myth, the legend!!!!

Blow-up Sword Fight!

Temple Walk with his District!

Mission Shirts

He couldn't remember what was so funny!!

Another Trio!!

11/2/16

Wow I am at the start of week 5 and it feels like I just got here yesterday!!! So last Wednesday we got 2 new districts in our zone and they are super fun! haha so there is an elder in one of the new districts and his name is Elder Hall and he is cousins with Issac and Noah Atkins in Alaska!!!!! hahaha which was waaayyy weird to find out!!! But this week has just been normal like usual haha just hanging out and teaching investigators!! haha we taught this lady named Ivette last week and that was a really fun experience because she was like a legit investigator! haha but she never followed up on our commitments and like actually did them! haha 

Funny story for the week sop hermana Dobson one of the sisters in my district got a package. and inside the package was blow up balloon lightsabers!! so like one morning for like 1 hour we just had lightsaber battles in our classroom!!!! it was sooo fun! hahaha and then our teacher came in and I yelled luchame and I threw him a lightsaber hahaha it was hilarious!!!! I love our teachers!! so one of my teachers name is cade parker haha we have the same first name! it’s legit!!!

So last night we had another Devotional and we did the choir again and the song we sang was praise to the man! it was amazing! I felt the spirit so strong while we were singing that song!!! but the coolest part ever was that we were singing to Russel M Nelson!!!!!!!! it was amazing to be able to listen to him speak last night and I learned so much form it! 

This week my testimony has grown a ton on prayer and the atonement! we had a super spiritual time in class where we watched the because of him video in Spanish and I understood the whole thing and it was amazing!! I felt the spirit so strong that this was true and that I was supposed to teach people in Ecuador about our Savior in the Spanish language :) it’s just great!!! and then prayer because our whole district has been having crazy struggles the beginning of this week and I know that the only way I got through it was pray and relying completely on my Heavenly Father.

Well I want you guys to know I love you all! and I miss you guys! but I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else in the world!!! I hope everyone has a great week and remembers our savior!!!

Elder Bigelow

"En El Pueblo de Sion" or "in our lovely Deseret" it’s like the best hymn in Spanish ever!!! haha it’s fun to sing!

oh and when you get the chance look up the because of him video!! it’s legit, and then watch it in Spanish because it’s even better that way!!!!